Quebec Immigration Processing Time

Changes to Quebec Experience Class also coming

The province of Quebec has also opened its plans to bring changes to its other economic immigration programme, the Quebec Experience class or PEQ.

The PEQ is open to eligible candidates who have obtained an eligible diploma from a recognized Quebec school in the recent past or have at least 1 year of skilled work experience in the province in the last 2 years and are currently employed full-time in Quebec.

Till now under the existing PEQ requirements, candidates were required to have work experience in occupations designated Skill Type O, Skill Level A or Skill Level B under Canada’s National Occupational Classification (NOC).

This essential requirement has now been removed, paving the way for candidates in occupations designated Skill Level C and Skill Level D also. Applicants who are eligible under these NOC skill categories may now be eligible to apply for CSQ through the Quebec Experience Program.

In another key change to the PEQ, Quebec will now allow accompanying spouses and common-law partners of eligible candidates who are working in Quebec on open work permits to present themselves as the principal applicants on CSQ applications.

Whereas immigration to other Canadian provinces and territories is managed jointly with Canada’s federal government, Quebec’s immigration system is largely independent and only relies on the Government of Canada to approve the candidates it selects for temporary or permanent residence.

How the PEQ works:

1. Foreign Students

Foreign students in Quebec are eligible to apply under this program if they meet the following requirements:

> The student must have obtained a degree or diploma from an educational institution recognized by the Quebec Ministry of Education within the past 36 months;

> The student must have studied in Quebec for at least 1,800 hours (two years); and

> The student must show that he or she has successfully completed an advanced intermediate level French course at a Quebec educational institution, if his or her studies were not completed in French,or prove French ability by way of a standardized language test recognized by the government of Quebec.

2. Temporary Foreign Workers

> Temporary Foreign Workers in Quebec are eligible to apply under this program if they meet the following requirements:

> The worker must have 1 year of work experience in Quebec in a skilled, managerial, or professional occupation in the last 2 years prior to submission of the application;

> The worker must be employed and show legal status in Quebec at the time of his or her application; and

> The worker must show that he or she has successfully completed an advanced intermediate level French course at a Quebec educational institution, if his or her studies were not completed in French, or prove French ability by way of a standardized language test recognized by the government of Quebec. Alternatively, he or she can show that he or she has satisfied the French language requirements of the professional order governing his or her occupation in Quebec.